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William R. DePaolo, Ph.D.

Office: 
CMiST | Center for Microbiome Sciences & Therapeutics University of Washington Medical Center 1959 NE Pacific Street K-Wing, Room K443 Seattle, WA 98195

Lab Staff

Amy Parker, Program Manager
Andrew Johnson, PhD, Postdoc
Denise Chac, Graduate student
Melissa Kordahi, Graduate student
William R. DePaolo, Ph.D.
Position: 
Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center | Director of the Center for Microbiome Sciences & Therapeutics (CMiST)

Dr. William DePaolo has recently been appointed an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center and is the recipient of the Lynn M. and Michael D. Garvey endowed chair in Gastroenterology. Dr. DePaolo was also named Director of the Center for Microbiome Sciences & Therapeutics (CMiST), which serve as an intellectual hub for investigators, clinicians and the community interested in the human microbiome. CMiST will offer Innovation Services, host workshops and seminar series, and foster collaboration between clinicians and researchers.

DePaolo Lab Research Mission
Our bodies are home to an enormous microbial ecosystem with more than 100 trillion microbes. Astonishingly, for every one of our genes there is an estimated 145 microbial genes. Collectively, these microorganisms and their gene products are referred to as the microbiome and this community of microbes performs essential functions that help maintain human health. Shifts in the composition, distribution and/or function of the microbiome have not only been implicated in diseases of the GI tract, but also play important roles in systemic diseases such as autism, hematological cancers and neurological disease. Due to the inherent plasticity of the microbiome, the manipulation of its communities has the potential for significant therapeutic applications to treat numbers of diseases.

The goals of the DePaolo Lab are to explore how intestinal perturbations caused by genetics and/or environmental factors (e.g., diet, infection, pollution) alter the microbial landscape of the intestine and to use this newly acquired knowledge to develop strategies and therapies to maintain or restore ecological harmony. To accomplish these goals the DePaolo Lab utilizes an integrated and multidisciplinary approach that incorporates both clinical human samples with relevant animal models of disease and pairs –omics data with novel assays to define actual biological function. Through careful analysis and holistic approaches the DePaolo Lab hopes to define new pathways, identify new targets and gain mechanistic insight into the relationship between the environment, human genes and the microbiome.

CMiST | www.cmistuw.org

DePaolo Lab | www.depaololab.com